Censored
by AlongTheBinding
Summary: When school officials get their hands on Ponyboy's theme, Mr. Syme has to do something he disagrees with in order to keep his job and the gang tackles the controversial issue of censorship.
1. Knock! Knock!

**Disclaimer: I do not own The Outsiders.**

**AN: The novel The Outsiders is a banned and challenged book. It was controversial when it was first published, and it remains controversial to this day. 1990-2000 it was ranked #43 on the Top 100 Most Challenged Books List.**

"**Congress shall make no law** respecting and establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or **abridging the freedom of speech**, or of the press, or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances"~ First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution

"Someone has said it takes less mental effort to condemn than to think"~Emma Goldman

* * *

There it was. The dreaded knock. Mr. Syme had rather hoped he would not have to have this conversation. He hoped Ponyboy Curtis would have been absent and that he never had to see the look on his face when his student saw the red F. He hoped that some time between his class and lunch, Ponyboy would've extracted some type of stomach virus, some type of cold, a shiver, a sneeze, a cough, anything to be sent home to avoid this conversation. He wished Ponyboy would've skipped the rest of the day or simply forgot and he was holding on to all those possibilities with all his might. But there was that dreaded knock, signifying that all he hoped and wished would not happen and that no matter how much he wanted to put this conversation off, he could not.

It was not like he agreed with it. In fact, he hated it. He argued and fought vehemently and passionately, sticking up for this student of his, until he was blue in the face. What he was about to do would go against everything he so adamantly believed. And he refused, but they threatened his job. And when it came down to it, he couldn't lose his job. He knew it was wrong, but it was a catch-22.

He shuffled the papers mindlessly around on his desk to simply do something with his hands. If he kept his hands busy, he thought he could keep his mind off of it. Because if he thought about it, he knew he wouldn't be able to do it. It also gave him a place for his eyes, so he didn't have to look at Ponyboy. If he dare look his student in the eye, he couldn't do it. "Come in." He couldn't keep the crack out of his voice or hide the vacillating tone.

The door opened, and Mr. Syme held his breath, doing everything in his power to remain composed and divert his eyes. Sweat framed his face and he was shaking almost uncontrollably. _This is wrong. This is wrong. This is wrong!_ It was like a metronome in his head. He tried to tune it out, but it blared so loudly, that he almost didn't hear Ponyboy Curtis... his student... that kid address him. "You wanted to see me about my theme." His voice sounded flat, but Mr. Syme could detect some hurt behind it. He was sure this kid, who most of the teachers now shied away from and even feared, would be stone-faced, wearing a vizard of cool apathy, like he did in class. Mr. Syme had to admit, this fourteen year old sure did look tough and did come from the violent neighborhood on the East side. Yet, he _knew_ Ponyboy Curtis. He knew despite the way he looked, he was a quiet, sensitive, kind kid, better than most, and he did care. He cared a lot. He was thoughtful, reflective, and smart. He knew this kids wasn't some J.D. or hood. He was a good kid. And that was all before reading the theme.

_Damn it!_ He couldn't think like this. The admistration made it clear. He had to do this. He couldn't be out of a job. It didn't matter how much he cared for this kid or how much he thought this kid did not deserve this or how much he thought this was wrong. It was no longer a matter of right or wrong. "Sit," he commanded absently. _Don't look at him! Don't look at him! Don't look at him! This is wrong! This is wrong! This is wrong! SHUT UP!_ He was silent for a moment, procrastinating and he could hear Ponyboy... his student...that kid fidgeting in his seat. "In all my years of teaching, I have never seen a theme this..." Words could not describe it. It _moved_ him. It made him question his own views of the world around him. It made him look at the students in his school differently. He was a better man for having read that kid's theme. He was getting too excited, but he couldn't help it. This fourteen year old kid from the wrong side of the tracks had a gift and his theme was quality writing. He was losing it. If he continued to gush and compliment, he wouldn't be able to do this. He felt helpless, hopeless. He tuned down the enthusiasm, but now it came out as distance and boredom. "In all my year of teaching, I have never seen a theme of this caliber."

"But you gave me an F." The kid blurted out.

It was like twisting the knife that was already stabbed in Mr. Syme's chest. His heart shattered. _Oh, god! Damn it! Damn it all to hell!_ He was struggling with keeping his hands moving and his eyes anywhere but on that kid. Didn't this kid see how hard this was for him? Didn't this kid see how this devastated Mr. Syme to have to do this? He wanted to scream _I didn't have a choice!_ Instead, he said rather cooly, reminding himself not to look at the kid, "It has come to the attention of some school officials that your theme was not entirely school appropriate."

"You told me the theme was supposed to be about anything I thought was important enough to write about, my own ideas and experiences." _Damn it! Damn it! Damn it!_

"I cannot accept this theme. I am not allowed to accept this theme." _Don't look at him! Don't look at him! Don't look at him!_ "I am allowed, however, to give you the opportunity to write another, more appropriate theme." As soon as the words left his mouth, a sour, acrid taste entered his throat.

"But this is what happened. I wrote the truth. I did the assignment."

"Some people didn't like what you had to say. They didn't think a fourteen-year old should write something like this, much less turn it in." _They found it too true, too real._

"But I lived through it. This is what happened." _Shut up! Shut up! Shut up!_ Didn't he know Mr. Syme already had this debate? Didn't he know Mr. Syme already defended his work?

"You will write a new theme." Mr. Syme declared with finality. _You shouldn't have to._ "Or you will accept this F."

But much to his surprise, Ponyboy Curtis stubbornly rose from his seat, head shaking, fists clenched at his sides. "No."

"I suggest you take the offer." Mr. Syme advised, despite the feeling of defeat. "Think about it." He hated himself.

Ponyboy picked up his backpack from the floor, grabbing his theme, and stormed out. Mr. Syme thought it safe to look up now. _This is wrong! This is wrong! THIS IS WRONG!_

* * *

**AN: It was not until 1969 in Tinker v. Des Moines Independent School District that the Supreme Court ruled that neither student nor teachers "shed their constitutional right to freedom of speech or expression at the schoolhouse gates". **


	2. Voiceless

**Disclaimer: I do not own The Outsiders.**

**AN: Thank you to all the reviewers for your constructive criticism. I see what you are saying and I'm going to try to go back and fix it. I tried to edit this chapter to make Darry a bit better. Does anybody have any suggestions for how to make Ponyboy more in character? I know there's nothing I hate more than when the characters are out of character, so I apologize for that. As the chapters go on, I'll try to fill some of the plot holes as well. Thank you for catching all my mistakes, and I hope you continue to read! I like Darry a lot as a character and I can see how I majorly screwed him up in this chapter, though I think he would still be upset over the grade and not understand why his brother wouldn't take the opportunity to fix it. He also seems to me, at least, to be a do-what-you-gotta-do type of guy and see a lot more riding on that F then Ponyboy might. Did I fix him?**

"If we do not believe in freedom of expression for people we despise, we don't believe in it at all"~ Noam Chomsky

"An idea that is not dangerous is unworthy of being called an idea at all"~ Oscar Wilde

* * *

Livid did not begin to describe how Ponyboy felt. He felt the need to punch something, to yell, to scream! He pitied anybody who dared mess with him at the moment. Socs beware! He could've knocked anyone's block clear off. He spent the rest of the day silently seething. In math he snapped his pencil in two and in gym he beat his own record for running track.

It wasn't just the F. Though, he knew he deserved a better grade and he knew Mr. Syme thought so, too. He wasn't itching to show Darry, but it wasn't that either. They banned his theme! Those were his words and it meant more than a simple grade. It was their lives, their story. It was Johnny and Dally and the whole of Tulsa. And they just casted it aside as though it was nothing, as though it didn't matter, as though it didn't happen. But it did matter! And it did happen! It was still happening! And it infuriated him!

He was tired of being silenced, of having no one listen because he was fourteen, because he was poor, because he lived on the East side, because he wore long hair and put grease in it. That theme gave him a voice. It gave a voice to his brothers, to Johnny and Dally, to all the greasers, to the lives everyone else simply ignored or stuck their nose up at. Those school officials didn't get it at all.

It wasn't just personal, either. His theme represented hundred of kids living on the wrong side of cities. He told their story, a story rarely heard or understood. And those school officials acted like it was nothing, like they didn't care.

They found it offensive, but it was his and his gang's lives. And ignoring it was not going to make it go away and it wasn't like he could ignore it. He lived it. He was living it. And it wasn't fair. None of it was fair. So, he refused. Because this story was important and he had a right to tell it, for Johnny and Dally, and his brothers, and his gang, and other greasers, and kids like them.

And he tried to tell Darry as much that night. He could tell that Darry was really trying hard to talk to him and keep the promise they made to Sodapop not to fight.

"Life ain't fair, Ponyboy. I would've thought you knew that by now." He was trying to remain calm. The problem was Pony knew it more than his older brother might think. "You're gonna sit down and write a new theme."

With stubborn, fervent determination, Ponyboy looked his brother straight in the eye, exasperated that despite his best efforts, Darry wasn't getting it. "No, Darry. I ain't!"

His flat out refusal just aggravated Darry more. "Sometimes you gotta do something that ain't right or fair. You do what you gotta do. It wasn't a matter of fair and unfair or right and wrong when I gave up college and Sodapop dropped out of high school. " He was trying to keep his family together. He was sore and tired and stressed. Didn't Pony get that the state was only going to let them stay together as long as they stayed out of trouble and Pony keeping his grades up was part of that agreement? Didn't he get that without rewriting that paper, he would fail English? There was a lot riding on this grade. Pony was going places and that F would be nothing but a hindrance to a brighter future Darry so desperately wanted for his brother, one he was denied. Pony was lucky Mr. Syme was even giving him another opportunity. Most teachers would not. "What's more important, Ponyboy? A random school paper or our family and your future?"

"Our family which is why this paper is important!" Pony argued.

Darry counted to ten in his head. He was not about to let his brother fail. "It ain't fair," he said between clenched teeth, "But you gotta do it. If Mr. Syme says you gotta rewrite it to pass, then rewrite it to pass. I ain't letting you fail this semester, Ponyboy. So, you're gonna sit there and you ain't gonna get up till it's done. It ain't fair, but that's just the way things are. You live with it."

Ponyboy was furious and frustrated with the school and ticked that Darry wasn't getting it. All Darry saw was the big, fat F. He didn't see Pony's point on this at all. And that last part irked him! It was the final straw. "Maybe I'm tired with just living with it, Darry! I'm tired of just taking things that ain't fair! I can't anymore! I can't like it or lump it, like Two-bit suggested! And I ain't Dally! I can't harden myself! And I'm not you, Soda! I can't just ignore it and love life!"

"Glory, Pone." Soda and Darry were both shocked at his outburst. "It's just a school assignment."

"No, it's more than that, Soda!" Pony had to make them see. "The school aint got no right to censor my work, to censor our story, our life, to make me voiceless!" He turned to Darry. "And I get what you're saying, Darry, I do, but don't _you_ get it? It ain't some random school paper. I'm tired of just accepting the way things are! I can't anymore!"

Darry sighed, running his hands through his hair. "I'll talk with your teacher." He acquiesced and left the room, thinking about all his brother just said.


	3. A Threat

**Disclaimer: I do not own The Outsiders.**

**AN: Some of the reviews said this is hard to follow. And I can see what they are saying. Please feel free to offer constructive criticism on how to make this story better. I updated chapter 2 to try to make it a bit, better. Let me know what you think... Thanks...**

"We need not be let alone. We need to be really bothered once in a while. How long has it been since you were really bothered? About something important, about something real"~ Ray Bradbury, Farenheit 451

"The books that the world calls immoral are the books that show the world it's own shame"~ Oscar Wilde

* * *

Darry knocked on Ponyboy's English class door. He checked his watch, grateful Mr. Syme agreed to meet him so early. His work schedule made it impossible to meet with him at any other time.

Sitting behind his desk, Mr. Syme pinched the bridge of his nose. "Come in." He called.

Darry entered and Mr. Syme did not look thrilled at the prospect of this conversation. "You are here to discuss Ponyboy's theme. I was not surprised when you called."

Darry sat down opposite of him. Noticing how little time he had before having to go into work, he got right to the point. "We are grateful you are giving Pony this second opportunity to raise his grade. I can't say I understand why, but the theme he wrote is really important to him."

Judging by the lack of the reaction Mr. Syme assumed would accompany such a meeting, he guessed Pony didn't share his theme with his older brother. "I take it you haven't read his theme."

"No," Darry admitted. Between bills and work, he'd been a bit swamped.

"I suggest that you do. It might help you see where he is coming from. And it is very well written."

"You gave him an F. Without reading it, I know for a fact he worked hard on this and deserved a better grade."

Mr. Syme sighed. "I'm sorry. It's out of my hands."

"What do you mean it's out of your hands?"

Mr. Syme got up from his seat, glanced down the hallway and shut the door carefully. Sitting back down, he lowered his voice. "I answer to people higher up than me. I did what I had to do to keep my job, I'm sure you can understand that." Darry was staring at him like he lost his mind. For a moment, he wasn't sure if Mr. Syme was about to pull out a tin foil hat to keep the aliens from reading his mind. What did one student's paper have to do with his job? "Off the record, I disagree with it completely. If I had my way this paper would've been given an A and sent to a publisher, but I work for them, and if I don't take their side, it will cost me my job. You didn't hear me say any of this."

Now, Darry was completely lost. "We are talking about a fourteen-year old kid's random paper. How does a paper about some random trip to the zoo or something like that cause all this trouble?"

"It's about the Bob Sheldon case." Mr. Syme's face turned grave. "It's about what happened to Johnny Cade and Dallas Winston and your gang and the clashes between two groups of students." Darry was silent, starting to understand why his younger brother was so upset. "There are people who do not like what he had to say. They found many things within his theme offensive."

"And, just how did they get their hands on _my_ brother's paper?" Darry was starting to become angry.

Mr. Syme flushed in embarrassment and looked down sheepishly. "I set the papers down in the teacher's lounge, planning on grading them, and when I came back I realized it was gone. I had every intention of giving Ponyboy the A he deserved. I spent days searching for it. Next thing I know, I'm being called down to the principal's office as though I'm some type of juvenile delinquent instead of a respectable teacher. The principal and some people from the board are there confronting me about Ponyboy's paper. Apparently, some anonymous teacher found the paper and gave it to some of the more influential people of the school board, claiming it was "inappropriate", "dirty", "dangerous", "defiant", and "offensive". According to them, I shouldn't have even allowed him to turn it in. Their argument included drug and alcohol abuse, underage smoking and drinking, glamorizing smoking and drinking, dysfunctional families and essentially all the characters coming from broken homes, excessive obscenities and profanities, gangs, gang fights, violence, lack of adult role models, slang usage, and unchristian values."

"I take offense to many of those arguments!"

"Half of them didn't even read it. The other half missed the whole point of the theme. The whole thing is ridiculous and many of those claims are absurd."

"You told him to write his own experiences and thoughts." Darry argued. Mr. Syme could only nod. "And that is what he did." Again, Mr. Syme nodded.

"They'd prefer he write a trip to the zoo. Something safe. Something that isn't so controversial. Ponyboy choose to write about many sensitive issues." Mr. Syme explained. "I managed to talk them into letting Pony write another theme, that way at least he can raise his grade. I'm sorry. There's nothing I can do."

"So," Darry summarized. "He's being punished because he wrote something that mattered? That challenged the views of others? Because they didn't like what he had to say? I still don't understand why they are all up in arms over a paper that doesn't concern them."

Mr. Syme sighed. "They feel it does. The school board and the faculty are responsible for everything that goes on in this school. They say simply allowing him to turn that in made it their concern. Consider who is on the school board, who has the most influence on what goes on in this school. They feel that nobody should accept what is in that paper. I tried. I argued and fought with them. They don't like it when you do that, and they threatened my job. It's out of my hands. I suggest you have Pony write another theme before he rocks the boat anymore."

"It's just a paper!" Darry exclaimed exasperatedly. "They shouldn't even have read it!"

Mr. Syme shook his head. "It's not just a paper. Words and stories have power behind them. They are powerful. The school board feels Ponyboy's words are a threat. They don't like what they read and regardless of whether or not they should've read it in the first place, they are the ones who run this school. They are the ones in control! And this paper makes people think, makes people see, challenges the way things are. This is more the just a paper for Ponyboy, for the school board, for anyone whose read it! After all, the pen is mightier then the sword. There is nothing I can do."

* * *

**AN: The list of the school board's complaints against Ponyboy's theme are the actual reasons given for challenging and banning ****The Outsiders**** novel.**


	4. Next Great American Novel

**Disclaimer: I do not own The Outsiders.**

"Not being heard is no reason for silence"~ Victor Hugo

"Banning books gives us silence when we need speech. It closes our ears when we need to listen. It makes us blind when we need sight." ~ Stephen Chbosky

"When you tear out a man's tongue, you are not proving him a liar, you're only telling the world that you fear what he might say" ~ George R.R. Martin

* * *

Ponyboy pressed the half finished Coke bottle against his forehead, allowing the condensation to cool down the throbbing headache. No matter how much he tried to explain it all to the three other Greasers, they just weren't getting it.

"They can do that? Shoot, they should do that with all the books in school!" They were grinning like the fools they were. Two-bit went on, ignoring Pony's glare. "Then they wouldn't make us read so much!"

"They already do that with books in school." Pony gritted his teeth in aggravation. "And you don't read anyway!" That was the problem. They never read, except maybe Steve, but even then it wasn't like he ever really appreciated it. He wasn't even sure Darry fully got it. Pony thought his older brother only read out of necessity or a requirement or because he thought he should, never for pleasure.

"Almost all the great classics have been banned! Hell, even the Bible's been banned! Thomas Paine's pamphlet 'Common Sense' was banned and that helped start the Revolution!"

Steve and Two-bit fell over each other laughing. "Hear that, Soda? Your brother's written the next great American novel! Humble much, kid?"

"And... and..." Two-bit added between snickers, "will start a revolution!"

It didn't make him feel too hot to be laughed at, especially by people he considered brothers. He got more than enough of that at school. Ears practically glowing red, he scowled. But Soda gave him an award winning grin and ruffled his hair. "I don't doubt it." Soda might not have understood it, but at least he _tried_. All Soda knew was that it mattered to Pony, so it mattered to him.

But he needed them, someone, to get it. It was lonely this feeling. And scary. If they could take this away, what else could they take away? "What if someone told you to shut up?"

"Kid, people tell me to shut up all the time." Two-bit told him.

Steve rolled his eyes. "He just goes right on talking."

"But what if they could make you?"

Two-bit shook his head. "Ain't no one can make you."

Ponyboy thought about that for a moment. "They could gag you. Wire your mouth shut. That's what it's like. It's like being in a rumble, but they got you gagged and blindfolded and your hands tied behind your back and your feet chained and bound. They can do anything to you, and you can do nothing back."

The laughter and jokes quieted down as that mental image sunk in. He took the opportunity to continue, desperate to not stand alone. "It's fighting back. And books, they change things! Lincoln once credited the Civil war to Harriet Beecher Stowe for writing Uncle Tom's Cabin. Upton Sinclair's The Jungle got the government to investigate the meat packing industry and started the FDA."

Steve scoffed. "You think your little school project is going to change Tulsa? The Socs and Greasers will join hands and become all buddy-buddy?"

"I ain't an idiot!" Pony snapped. "But maybe it makes someone see the other side of things. Maybe it makes them see our side. At the very least, maybe it lets some other Greasers out there not feel so alone, makes them feel like they belong. Let's them know there's still some good left in the world and that they ain't just some outsider. That they ain't just some lousy hood."

"Was that why you wrote it?" Soda asked.

Pony shrugged. "Maybe some of it was that. It's bigger than us, savvy? The problem is too vast to be personal. Truthfully, only Mr. Syme was supposed to read it. But even so, they ain't got no right to tell me what I can and cannot write. It's our story and it's got a right to be told."

* * *

**AN: The Bible, Quran, and Talmud have long histories of being banned.**


	5. Reading The Theme

**Disclaimer: I do not own The Outsiders.**

**AN: Recently, I found out Howard Zinn's A People's History of the United State was banned by a Indiana's governor. And to add to the outrage that governor is now a president of a university!**

"...it's not just the books under fire now that worry me. It is the books that will never be written. The books that will never be read. And all due to the fear of censorship. As always, young reader will be the real losers."~ Judy Blume

"Censorship is the child of fear and the father of ignorance. Our children cannot afford to have the truth of the world withheld from them." ~ Laurie Halse Anderson

* * *

The moment Pony walked through the door, his eyes rested on his theme in Darry's hands. He froze in the doorway as he stared at his older brother's stone face and eyes colder than usual, sure he'd get in trouble, that he'd be skinned alive or at the very least get an earful. Soda watched them carefully as he plopped down on the couch, kicking off his shoes and feeling the tension start to rise. "I ain't writing a new theme."

"I talked with Mr. Syme." Darry told him.

Pony readied himself for an argument, eyes narrowed challengingly, voice reaching higher decimals in determination. "You hear me, Darry? I said I ain't!" Soda frowned.

Ignoring him, Darry continued. "He suggested I read this." He tossed the theme to the table and the three other in the room whistled at the mere size of it. They had no idea by 'theme,' he meant 'book.' "And I dig."

Well, of course he digs, Pony thought. Of course he would see Mr. Syme and the school board's side. "I still ain't gonna!"

"Would you shut up and let me speak?" Darry snapped. Soda opened his mouth to intervene, but Darry continued before he had the chance. "I didn't say you had to! All I said was I got it! Glory, Ponyboy! Hear me out before you jump all over me! Sometimes I swear..." He shook his head, took a deep breath, and ran his fingers through his hair. He growled in frustration. "Whatever! I'm making dinner!" He stalked off to the kitchen.

Ponyboy unclenched his fist, blinking in confusion. "Huh?" Soda was glad it didn't lead to a full out knock-down-drag-out, but was concerned about his older brother's reaction. He wondered if maybe it was just an especially hard day at work or maybe just a bad day all together. "This it?" He reached over and grabbed the impressive pile.

"Yeah." He nodded. "But I don't wanna be around when you read it. I got homework, anyway." He headed for his room as Soda read outloud, "The Outsiders by Ponyboy Curtis. Chapter 1. _As I walked into the bright sunlight from the darkness of the movie house, I had two things on my mind: Paul Newman and a ride home_..."

He stared at the blank paper in front of him. Mr. Syme assigned another writing assignment. He had no problem putting pen to paper, but now, he had to worry about whether or not his teacher would accept it, if he was writing about something they'd find 'inappropriate' or 'unacceptable.' He found it difficult to attempt to censor himself in anticipation. To do so felt like a lie, and when it came to writing, he couldn't help but be honest. He couldn't even lie to himself when he wrote. To try felt wrong. Suddenly, though, he was as paranoid when it came to writing as walking alone.

When Darry called for dinner, the sheet was still empty, except for his name, the date, his teacher's name, and the class. Soda, Two-bit, and Steve were still busy reading. Neither Darry nor Pony cared to join them and decided to eat in the kitchen.

Pony pushed his spaghetti around his plate. Darry's voice broke through the silence, startling him. "You _can_ cry in front of me." Ponyboy gave him an odd look, starting to understand what bothered Darry before. "And I _do_ like to read. Why do you think I have a copy of _The Carpetbaggers_? And I don't mean to be yelling all the time or to be so rough with you. "Darry stared hard and pained at his plate. "But," he pleaded, "Don't you ever think I'd give you up, Ponyboy Curtis. Don't you eve think that I don't..." His voice dropped off.

"I don't." Pony said quickly. It was unusual to hear Darry like this and he knew it was difficult for his older brother to say it. "I don't think it, 'least anymore."

Darry nodded and twirled the pasta on his fork, speaking quietly. "I never knew you felt that way. And I... I'm sorry."

Ponyboy's head shot up surprised. "I'm sorry, too."

"It's good, though. The theme, I mean. Deserves more than an A. Never knew you were _that_ good at writing." The corner's of Pony's mouth turned upward at the compliment.

Soda, Two-bit, and Steve were still reading deep into the night and enthralled by the story. Darry poked his head into the room. "You got work in the morning, little buddy."

Soda waved him off. "Yeah, yeah. I'll go to bed once we're done."

Darry snorted. Never before had he seen those three so interested in the written word. Let that be a testament to the quality of the theme. He was even more surprised to find them crashed on the couch, the theme dropped to the floor, finished in the morning. They woke to the smell of chocolate cake and eggs. Stretching, they rushed to the kitchen stuffing their faces. "It was the best thing I ever read!" Soda told him.

"It was the only thing you ever read," Steve retorted, seemingly unimpressed. "And you only think that 'cause he didn't have a bad word to say about you. Shit, kid! You make me sound like an ass!"

"You _are_ a ass!" Two-bit laughed, dodging his swing.

"'Cept for dropping out." Soda's grin wavered. "But I couldn't believe you wrote about Mickey Mouse and told that Cherry girl."

Pony frowned. "You mad?"

Soda shook his head. "Naw. And I can't believe you tried to get him back for me!" Pony's ears turned bright red in embarrassment, but the grateful look in Soda's eyes wasn't missed. "The question is what are we gonna do?"

Two-bit flipped out his switchblade. "Challenge them to a rumble?" He joked. "We're unbeatable now!"

"Lemme think about it." Darry told them. "I'll figure something out."

Suddenly, Ponyboy felt a little less alone.

* * *

**AN: Special thanks to TheOutsidersFanatic, JennyLynnxo, and skywright for the reviews! I always appreciate hearing from readers. :) Thank you also to all the favorites and followers.**


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